Safety apparatus for cars or trains.



PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

J. P. COLEMAN. SAFETY APPARATUS FOR CARS 0R TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PRESSLEY COLEMAN, OF EDGEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH AND SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PEN NSYLVANIA.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR CARS OR TRAINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 7, 1908.

Application filed March 14, 1905. Serial No. 250,017.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN PRESSLEY OoLE- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Edgewood, in the county of Allegheny an( State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Apparatus for Cars or Trains, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to safety apparatus carried by cars or trains which is designed, when operated, to affect the motion of the car or train, for example, to ap ly the brakes ,on the car or train or to shut o the supply of motive ower to the motor or motors of the train. uch apparatus is generally operated by a trip or arm located adjacent the railway, and the trip is generally used in connection with railway signals. An exam is of this use is illustrated in U. S. Patent 0. 769058, granted to me on August 30th, 1904.

My present invention relates to the movement of the safety apparatus into and out of what may betel-med its operative position, so that it may or may not, as desired, be engaged by the trip, and the interrupting of the supply of motive power to the motor or motors of the train or the control of the motive power supply when the apparatus is moved out of its operative position. When the motive power supply or the control of the motivepower supply is interrupted, it can only be established through the movement of the safety apparatus to its operative position.

My present invention also relates to the resettingof the safety apparatus from the car after an operation of it due to its engagemcnt with a trip.

I will describe a safety apparatus having applied to it one form which my invention may assume, and then point out my invention in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatica] view in side elevation of a car provided with a safety apparatus, a trip with which the safety apparatus co-acts and a means embodying my invention for moving the safety apparatus into and out of its operative position and for interrupting the control of the motive power-for propelling the cars. in this figure the apparatus is in its operative position. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showin the apparatus in its inoperative position. fig. 3 is. etail view.

Similar letters of reference designer to corresponding parts in all of the figures.

Referrin now to the drawings, A designates a car whic is provided with air(brakes not shown), and B a safety apparatus through the o eration of which the brakes on the car may e set. Usually this apparatus, and as shown in the drawings, comprises a valve 1) provided in what is termed a train pipe I) or in a branch of said pipe and an arm I) by which the valve is operated. Usually the arm is in a vertical position (its set position) and when in this position the valve 7) is closed.

When, however, the arm is moved to an inclined position (see Fig. 3) the valve is opened to exhaust air from the train pipe and thus ap ly the brakes. This is so well known thatll have not deemed it necess'ar to illustrate or describe.

T designates a trip which is located adjacent the railroad and with which the arr. (1 of the apparatus co-acts. The trip may be moved from its inoperative position (see dotted lines in Fig. 1) to its operative position (see full lines in Fig. l) by any desired apparatus which may operate automatically or be manually operated. Such trips are generally used in connection with block signaling systems on both steam. and electric' railroads and one such trip with its automatically operating mechanism is located near a railway signal at the entrance of each block section, and the control of the mechanism for such trip may be obtained by the train in a manner similar to the railway signals. Usually the arrangement is such that when a signal is set to danger the trip adjaccnt the signal is also set to its operative position so that a succeeding train, should it run past the danger signal will be automatically sto ped by the trip engaging an arm 1r carried by the train. The manner of moving the trip to its operative or inoperative posit ion is' immaterial, but it should only be moved to its operative position when it is desired to stop a train at any desired point to prevent col isions or other accidents. In the case of the trip being moved to its operative position when an adjacentsignal is in its of the danger danger position, train bringing his train to a stop on account sired) he may proceed past the danger signal with his train under control,.this being prescribed in the operating rules for the rail road. To do this it is nesessary, so long as the trip is in its operative position, to move the safety apparatus B out of its operative position (see Fig. 2) so that it wil. not be 0 erated by the trip. This may be accomp 'shed in a variety of ways, either manually or automatically. In the drawings. 1 have shown the apparatus B as being supported from a rod 0 connected with one arm of a bell crank lever. a suitably fulcrumed on a support c carried by the car so that upon movement of the lever c on its fulcrum the apparatus may be raised from or lowered into its operative position. Movement of the bell crank lever c is obtained from a lever C within the car and preferably within convenient reach of the driver through a rod 0 bell crank lever 0* and rod 0 connecting the levers c and c,

in moving the safety apparatus out of its operative position so that a train may pro" oeed past a fdanger signal, it is desirable that the motive power supply or the control thereof be interfered with or interrupted so that the train cannot be moved until all safety apparatus has been again moved to' its operative position. This interruption of the motive power supply or the control thereof ma be accomplished in a variety of ways, and I do not, therefore, wish to be understood as being limited to any particular way. in the drawings 1 have illustrated an electrical control for the motive power supply and embodied in what is known as the unit multiple system of control, which as is well known, means the control of a number of motors located on diiierent cars, comprised in the train from a single controller at any point in the train. As this is well known in the art 1 will not describe it in detail.

1), D designate two controllers and D a cable containing a plurality of conductors, one of which is a battery wire and the others of which extend to diiierent controllers on the train and include electrical devices for operating switches for controlling the motive power to the motors.

E designates a circuit maker and breaker which may be of any desired construction. The function of this circuit maker and breaker is when open to prevent a controller D or D etc. being operated to supply motive power to the motors of the train. The circuit maker and breaker E is, therefore, operated to open the circuit when the safety apparatus is moved out of its operative position. As shown in the drawings (Fig. 2.) it

and the driver of the signal (which is what is deis operated to open the circuit when the lever C is lifted. It will be understood, of course, that if the driver of a train should stop before a danger signal he will put his train in motion before raising-the safety apparatus so as to only proceed past the stop. In Fig. 3 in addition. to raising the safety apparatus out of its 0 erative position, have shown means whic serve to reset the safety apparatus should it be engaged by a tri These means as shown, comprise .aterally extending arms 7 arm b and projections li lf, carried by the support 0 together with means for raising and lowering the safety apparatus, which means as here shown consists of theineans for moving the safety apparatus into and out of its operative position. The slotted lines Fig. 3 indicate the position of the arm b after engagement by a trip, and when inthis position it will be seen that an upward movement of the rod a will cause an arm 17* or b to engs e a projection 23 or b to again move the to its vertical position. In other words, the valve will be. reset so that the brakes in be released. 1

' tron therefore, may

action with safety apparathe supply of motive power when the saiety apparatus has been moved out oi its operative position and to estabssh the control orsupply oi" motive power when the apparatus is reset.

My invention may also be said to cornrise means for resetting the safety apparatus iroin the car after its engagement by a trip, and preferably in conjunction with the means for moving it into and out of its up erative position.

As hereinbefore stated, ing the safety apparatus into andout of its operative position may be manually open ated or they may be automatically operated the means for movand controlled in its automatic operation. in any desired ".nanner. Also the means for re setting the safety apparatus from the car may any desired, and may be independent of the means moving the safety apparatus into and out of its operative position.

By safety apparatus as herein used, I mean any apparatus which is carried bya car or train and acts to a ply the brakes of the car or train, or to a 'ect the supply of motive power, or to apply the brakes and affect the supply of motivepower.

hat I claim as my invention is:

The combination with a car provided with a motor for ropelling1t, an electrical control for the supp y of motive power to the motor,

a safety. apparatuscarried by the car and 6 carried by the be said to adapted to oocupy'two different positions, controlof the motive power during such one of which is its operative position and the in vement's of the safety ap' stratus. othe ri'of'whioh is its ino eretive position, a n testimony whereof I ave signed my l ooated ad'aoent the ine ofwey adapted name to this s eoificetion in the presence of :5 to position an to on age with thesafety a twosubscribe witnesses.

"paratns when'the-s ety apparatus and t o -trip are 'in their operative positions, .and JOHN PRESSLEYCOLEMAN for moving the safety apparatus from Witnesses: one of itspositions to the other and for in- W. L. MCDANIEL, lfip'terruptingf and establishing the electrical JAMES OHALMERS, Jr. 

